(86) May 20, 2010: One Dimension Up

ONE DIMENSION UP

Let's say for sake of argument
   That like a map which signifies
A territory not itself,
   This earth of ours beneath blue skies,
   This habitat we call our home,
Is just a map of someplace else—
   Some Kubla Kahn, some pleasure dome,
Just one dimension up the stair
From map to globe, and globe to there.

And if our supposition's true,
   That This is just a map of That,
Then every stone and leaf and face
   Is pointing off to where it's at,
   An emblematic metaphor
Of some immense uncharted place;
   Degrees of freedom to explore
Beyond our tethered flesh and bone,
A field of vision still unknown.

What follows then from this new view,
   This paradigm of shifted scale?
How should we move toward this new light
   From our topography of Braille?
   How would a two-dimension man
Imagine climbing, jumping, flight,
   Beguiled within his diagram?
If we would go, then let's begin
By asking God to change our skin.

D. Edgar Lamp

www.TheDailyPoem.org
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